From the late 1990s, Ross has done much work for the industry’s two largest and most historically important publishing houses, Marvel and DC Comics, but Ross is also the co-creator of Astro City, an original series that explores superhero mythology.

Although he is a prominent figure for both DC and Marvel, he is better known as a DC artist, as much of his work (such as Kingdom Come) was created for DC. Due to the time and effort required to render his complex paintings, he is often hired to craft covers rather than interiors. Almost all of his Marvel work since 1994 has been as a plotter or cover artist.

Ross was born in Portland, Oregon, but grew up in Lubbock, Texas. His mother, Lynette C. Ross, was a commercial artist best known for her paper doll books. His father is a minister. From childhood, he wanted to work in comics. He was particularly influenced by George Pérez, Bernie Wrightson and Neal Adams. The telling facial expressions and realism of Adams’ work can be seen in much of Ross’. He was also interested in mainstream American painters such as Andrew Loomis, J. C. Leyendecker and especially Norman Rockwell. He was even influenced by his favorite band, Queen, specifically the cover to their second album, Queen II, the composition of which, (black background, grouped figures with faces partially shadowed,) would go on to be used many times in Ross’ work.

Busiek, Ross, and penciller Brent Anderson went on to create Astro City, first published by Image Comics in 1995 and later by Homage Comics. The series features an original superhero world and continues the theme of Marvels, exploring how ordinary people, and superheroes and villains too, react to a world where the fantastic is commonplace. Ross paints the covers and helps set the costumes and the general look and feel for the series, which has been published sporadically in recent years due to Busiek’s health problems.

Kingdom Come helped cement Ross’ place as a comic book industry superstar. He followed it with the risky Uncle Sam, a non-superhero work. A project of DC’s Vertigo line, it was an experimental work that examined the dark side of American history. While not a sales success, the mini-series garnered favorable reviews from comic fans.

In the early 2000s, with writer Jim Krueger, Ross plotted and designed characters for a trilogy of Marvel limited series, Earth X,Universe X, and Paradise X, which combined dozens of Marvel characters from various time periods in one galaxy-spanning epic. Alex Ross’s decision to not paint the internal art hurt the series.

Ross has also been the subject of a minor controversy over his refusal to draw certain characters (most notably Kyle Rayner, who at the time of Ross’ refusal was the Green Lantern).

Between 1998 and 2003, writer Paul Dini and Ross produced annual tabloid-sized editions celebrating the 60th anniversaries of DC Comics’ Superman (‘Peace on Earth’), Batman (‘War on Crime’), Shazam (‘Power of Hope’), and Wonder Woman (‘Spirit of Truth’), as well as two specials featuring the Justice League, ‘Secret Origins’ and ‘Liberty and Justice’.

In 2001, Ross won acclaim for his work on special comic books benefiting the families of those killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks, including his portraits of paramedics, police and firefighters. He has also designed much DC merchandise, including posters, dinner plates, and statues.

In 2004, DC compiled the coffee table book Mythology: The DC Comics Art of Alex Ross, written and designed by Chip Kidd. In late 2005, a paperback version of the book was published to include new artwork by Ross, including sketches for his “Justice” mini-series.

Also in 2004, Ross designed paintings for the opening credits of the film Spider-Man 2. The paintings presented key elements from the first film, including a rendition of the classic upside-down kiss between Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst.

In August 2005, Ross reunited with writer Jim Kreuger and penciller Doug Braithwaite to begin the epic 12-issue, bi-monthly limited seriesJustice for DC Comics. The series focuses on the enemies of the Justice League of America banding together to defeat the League.

Had a notable feud with filmmaker Kevin Smith because Smith’s film Mallrats seemed to imply that Stan Lee was the sole creator of the Marvel Universe. Ross stated that he feels that Jack Kirby should have half the credit. This feud was referenced in the DVD for Mallrats.

Had designed a series of costumes for the 2002 film Spider-Man, but director Sam Raimi instead chose not to use Ross’ outfits. Rather, many of the costumes were redesigned prior to filming. In the film’s video game counterpart, as an easter egg, it is possible to unlock a playable version of Ross’ Spider-Man design. When using this unlockable, the Green Goblin will also feature one of Ross’ unused character outfits. As such, Ross was commissioned to do a series of drawings for the opening credits of Spider-Man 2, which recapped the major events from the first film.

Freddie Mercury, portrait by Origa, pen&ink on paper, ecoline color, 2015 (Alberto Cabras private collection) «Years ago I thought up the name Queen… It’s just a name, but it’s very regal, and it sounds splendid. It’s a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations. I was certainl […]